Hawt Pinto Beans

I've been searching for the summer bbq bean recipe for a while.  I thought I'd found it when I stumbled upon this recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks; alas, 'twas not to be - they were good, but for me there was  too much pepper, not enough spicy, and a mystery something was missing.  But, with a little tweaking, Ree's recipe became precisely what I wanted.  Awesome spicy beans (that actually still taste like beans) with a hint of sweet that aren't from a can. 

4 cups dried pinto beans, sorted & washed
1 ham hock 
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 jalapenos, sliced (into thin circles)
6 cloves garlic, diced
1.5 tsp kosher or sea salt
2 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp black pepper
1-2 tbsp brown sugar (I just grabbed a handful and threw it in, not entirely sure on the measurement.  It's the beer's fault)

Throw the beans and ham hock into a dutch oven or stock pot; cover with water.  Put the lid on, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for @ 2 hours.  Take a peek every now and then to make sure the beans are still covered in water and give them a little stir - don't let them dry out.  Don't fret about too much water, it'll be the basis of the "sauce" and you can always let it cook off a bit if they're too runny. 

After a couple hours, throw in the veggies and garlic and stir well.  Not sauteing them first freaked me out a bit, but don't worry, they'll be great.

After another hour, throw in the seasonings.  Stir it all up, being careful to get those few rogue beans that always get stuck to the ham hock, and let it cook for about a half hour.  Then taste, adjust seasonings to your liking, and serve.

This does make a lot of beans, so if you aren't feeding 10 people and/or don't want to eat musical fruit every meal for the next week, cut the recipe in half.  I haven't tried freezing these yet, although I imagine that would work fairly well.